Chapter 155: Borrowing an Artillery Battalion and Two Came! (Fourth Update!)
Zhu Maoqin, who was in charge of artillery training at the training ground, was stunned for a moment when he heard the commander was looking for him.

Previously, the Fifth Army's artillery regiment had left a group of artillerymen in Myitkyina, originally planning to train the enemy for three months and then return.

Who knew that Du Yuming was put on the bench.

In addition, the Fifth Army's breach of trust with the Sichuan Corps led to the death of the old man of the Cun family and the sacrifice of General Cun Xingfu.

Therefore, Zhu Maoqin was too embarrassed to send another telegram to the Sichuan Army Corps asking him to return those artillery pieces.

It just so happened that the Sichuan Army was still fighting the Japanese Army in Myanmar, so let’s just consider it as returning a favor.

With so many missing artillery pieces, they naturally need to be replenished. If it were any other miscellaneous army, it would probably not be easy to make up for these artillery pieces.

But the Fifth Army is a regular army after all, and even if Du Yuming is left on the bench it will not affect their replenishment of supplies and recruits.

So during this period of time, Zhu Maoqin has been training the new artillerymen.

He was not very fond of the new commander. Even though he was his senior, he was not used to the way he marched and fought.

"General." With a puzzled mood, Zhu Maoqin came to the military headquarters and saluted Qiu Qingquan as he stood at attention.

"Sit down." Qiu Qingquan is not that crazy at ordinary times, but he becomes crazy when fighting.

"There is something I need to ask you." Qiu Qingquan asked.

"Please ask." Zhu Maoqin was even more confused, but he still asked very respectfully.

"I heard that you are very familiar with the Sichuan Army? Those heavy artillery of the artillery regiment were donated by the Sichuan Army?" Qiu Qingquan said with a kind face.

The officers of the Fifth Army were basically all graduates of Whampoa Military Academy. They could be said to be his juniors, so naturally they did not have the arrogance to them.

"Yes, when we were resting in Myitkyina, we encountered a heavy artillery attack by the Japanese army. The Sichuan Army Corps did not have enough artillery, so they asked us for help. I brought the people from the artillery regiment to help the Sichuan Army Corps a lot. Afterwards, they donated a battalion of heavy artillery to us." Zhu Maoqin explained.

"Although it is an artillery battalion, it is actually equivalent to an artillery regiment. It just has fewer shells. Otherwise, your artillery regiment with American equipment can be said to be unique." Qiu Qingquan praised.

"So, the Sichuan Army's reputation is still good?"

"Not bad." Zhu Maoqin nodded.

Hearing this, Qiu Qingquan breathed a sigh of relief and then handed over Tang Ji's telegram.

Zhu Maoqin looked at the other party in confusion, but still took the telegram. After reading it, he was stunned for a while.

"How did the Sichuan Army get involved with Master Yu's people?" Zhu Maoqin asked puzzledly.

"I'm not sure. I guess there must be some conflict of interest. Recently, a lot of southern rice has appeared on the market in Kunming. Who do you think has the ability to get so much rice?" Qiu Qingquan said casually.

Although he fought desperately, he was called Crazy Qiu.

But not Qiu Shazi.

The Yunnan Army belonged to the second echelon among the miscellaneous troops, and its treatment and other aspects were quite good.

Because they could sell opium, they had money to buy weapons.

But the war had been going on for so long that the little supplies they had were almost consumed.

Kunming is a wealthy city now, but it has very few supplies.

Especially the influx of the Fifth Army exacerbated the situation.

Prices basically change every day.

But this situation suddenly changed not long ago.

First, a batch of rice suddenly flooded into the market and was snapped up by the people who got the news.

Just when those people who failed to grab the rice were regretting it, another batch of rice appeared.

As a result, it was sold out again.

But not long after, another batch of rice appeared.

Now, no matter how dumb the people were, they knew that someone was selling rice.

After some investigation, the source was Zenda.

After receiving this telegram, Qiu Qingquan immediately understood that the batch of rice must have been obtained by the Sichuan Army.

As for how I got to Kunming, is there any need to explain?
Doesn’t this telegram in my hand explain everything?

The other party is trying to drag him down.

To be honest, he is not very interested in money.

I am still very interested in the American equipment proposed.

Right now, people in Shancheng are arguing over the distribution of American weapons and equipment.

Although the Fifth Army is backed by faction leaders, it will definitely not be short of American equipment in the future.

But if I find a way to get a batch of American equipment myself, will the top management look at me differently?

It was just that it was his first time dealing with the Sichuan Army, so he was naturally unfamiliar with it.

So he called Zhu Maoqin, who had more in-depth dealings with the Sichuan Army.

After Zhu Maoqin finished reading the telegram, he looked at Qiu Qingquan.

"Commander, what do you mean?"

"Borrowing an artillery battalion is not a big deal. Anyway, the Fifth Army has not had any special military operations recently. It's just right to dispatch an artillery battalion to Nantianmen to guide the artillery of the Yu Division."

"One or two months of teaching time is still normal." Qiu Qingquan said casually.

Hearing this, Zhu Maoqin understood instantly.

This is because they are attracted by the American equipment.

After all, the other party promised in the telegram that the equipment would definitely not be less than that of a battalion of American weapons.

Just by doing a favor, you can get a battalion of American equipment. Anyone who is not a fool would do this business.

"It's no use training like this without actual combat. I know about Lashio. It's the shame of our Fifth Army. Your help this time can be regarded as indirectly washing away the shame of the Fifth Army." Qiu Qingquan is not an old-fashioned person. He will definitely support such a thing that has benefits and can win reputation.

"Okay, you hand over the training work to the deputy commander, and then take an artillery battalion with you. Remember, there is only one requirement, and that is to bring them back to me intact."

"You know, it would be troublesome if there were fewer people."

"Yes, General, please rest assured, I will bring them all back." Zhu Maoqin promised.

"Go ahead, keep a low profile."

"Yes."

Not long after, Zhu Maoqin and the people from the artillery camp got on a truck and drove slowly towards Nantianmen.

On the way, many artillerymen were still confused. Why did a teaching training require the regiment commander to lead the team personally?
Zhu Maoqin did not give any further explanation for this.

When they arrived at the South Gate of Heaven, Tang Ji and others were looking forward to it.

They didn't expect that the Fifth Army would actually agree.

Moreover, the team was led by a colonel, which made Zhang Ruzhi and others overjoyed. It meant that if they could accomplish this task, they would really make a lot of money in the future.

So they were really enthusiastic towards Zhu Maoqin.

This made Zhu Maoqin feel that he was a little too enthusiastic.

"When will we cross the river?" He didn't ask any nonsense like how to cross the river.

Since the other party asked him to come over, there must be a way to cross the river.

At this time, Yu Xiaoqing came over with his men.

Seeing Zhu Maoqin frowned slightly.

He didn't expect to see people from the Fifth Army here.

"You want to cross the river?" Yu Xiaoqing asked coldly. Zhu Maoqin looked at Yu Xiaoqing in surprise, but did not answer. He then looked at Tang Ji and others beside him.

The meaning is obvious, what does this guy mean?
As for saluting Yu Xiaoqing?
What are you thinking!
He is the colonel of a regiment, and although the other party is the division commander, he only has the rank of colonel.

The military ranks of both sides are the same.

Not to mention, Yu Xiaoqing's Second Reserve Division was a ragtag unit.

If it weren't for his family connections, would he have been able to become the commander?

So naturally he wouldn't be too kind to Yu Xiaoqing.

"Xiaoqing, Captain Zhu was invited by the Sichuan Army to cross the river." Tang Ji explained with a smile.

Hearing this, Yu Xiaoqing frowned slightly, and suddenly felt a little unhappy.

This guy from the Sichuan Army not only looked for me, but also looked for others?

Is this a certainty that he won't agree?

Humph, I’m going to agree this time.

"What bargaining chips did the Sichuan Army give you?" Yu Xiaoqing asked directly without paying attention to the other people present.

Zhu Maoqin frowned and didn't want to pay attention to him.

"If you don't want to say it, I don't mind, but without my order, your soldiers will definitely not be able to cross the river, I say." Yu Xiaoqing sneered.

Hearing this, Zhu Maoqin looked at the other party, then at Tang Ji and others, and found that their faces looked a little ugly. He thought for a while and spoke.

"An American-equipped battalion."

“These are not the key points. The main thing is the humiliation suffered by the Fifth Army in Lashio. We hope to wash away the shame in Lashio.”

I believe everyone in the Fifth Army knows how miserable the 200th Division is.

So when Zhu Maoqin said this, Yu Xiaoqing was moved.

"You are right. Lashio is a shame for the expeditionary army. Since the Sichuan Army needs help, I, Yu Xiaoqing, am not a stingy person, He Shuguang."

"Here." He Shuguang was stunned, but still responded subconsciously.

"Assign an artillery battalion to follow Captain Zhu. From now on, your artillery battalion will be under his command." Yu Xiaoqing's words made He Shuguang stunned.

"what?"

"What? Don't you think Nantianmen is too boring? A waste of time? Now that you have the chance? You don't want to go?" Yu Xiaoqing asked with a frown.

"Go, go, I'm willing to go." He Shuguang responded excitedly and turned around to mobilize the artillery battalion.

"Wait, I didn't agree." Zhu Maoqin stopped the other party and said dissatisfiedly.

Others only need one artillery battalion, so what's the matter with you bringing two artillery battalions?

What if people think you are after their equipment?

He couldn't do such a shameful thing.

"Don't worry, you don't have to agree. The Sichuan Army also sent me a telegram asking me to transfer a battalion of artillery to help." After saying this, Yu Xiaoqing looked at Tang Ji and others meaningfully, then turned and left.

After hearing this, Zhu Maoqin could no longer refuse.

After all, they got the consent of the Sichuan Army.

In this way, what was originally one artillery battalion became two artillery battalions.

When Cun Yunsheng received the news, he looked at Meng Fan in confusion.

"Don't look at me like that. I don't know either. When I received the telegram, I was even more confused than you." Meng Fan spread his hands and said helplessly.

He also didn't expect that Yu Xiaoqing would agree.

Is this guy really not afraid of jumping into the fire pit?
Do you dare to send an artillery battalion?

He dared to guarantee that the artillery of this battalion would never be able to return.

As for Zhu Maoqin’s artillery battalion, considering that the two sides cooperated well last time, there should be no problem.

But Yu Xiaoqing's artillery battalion was definitely like throwing a meat bun at a dog, with no return.

"Hey, hey, hey, Fanle, what's that look in your eyes?" Cun Yunsheng suddenly saw something in Meng Fanle's eyes and said unhappily.

"Are you thinking again whether I should attack Yu Xiaoqing's artillery camp? Don't worry, I won't do such a shameless thing."

"Since I said it was a loan, I will definitely pay it back."

"Hmph, Liu Bei wants to borrow Jingzhou, is it okay to borrow it or not?" Meng Fanle didn't believe a word he said.

"Don't say that. We will definitely pay it back. We can't afford to maintain so many artillerymen now." Cun Yunsheng shook his head and said.

"Do you think I will believe you? You want to have eight or ten artillery battalions, but you can't afford to support them? With your way of cheating people out of money, even if the God of Wealth comes, he will have to leave something behind." Meng Fan looked unconvinced.

This made Cun Yunsheng speechless. Is his character so bad now?

"Don't worry, we will definitely send it back to them this time." Cun Yunsheng promised.

"Where's Stilwell? Why hasn't he called me back yet? Where are the 100 guns you promised?"

"No, one hundred guns are not enough. With two more artillery battalions, we need at least two hundred guns."

"I will use 300 heavy artillery pieces to completely blow open the gates of Lashio."

"I don't know. Maybe Stilwell thinks you're asking for too much and doesn't want to bother with you." Meng said with a sneer.

"Two hundred heavy artillery pieces, do you really dare to think about it? I'm afraid there aren't that many heavy artillery pieces in the entire mountain city?"

"Send another telegram to Stilwell, and use more earnest wording to make him believe that as long as the heavy artillery arrives, I can take Lashio." Cun Yunsheng was too lazy to answer his question, so he kicked him and told him to send the telegram quickly.

At the Allied Headquarters in Imphal, Stilwell frowned deeply as he looked at another telegram.

"Two hundred guns. Does he have so many artillerymen?"

Even if four people are required to operate a cannon, nearly a thousand people are needed.

Can the Sichuan Army handle the situation with just the limited artillery it has?

Could it be that these artillery pieces were sold on the black market?
He had received a secret message from Chennault, which indicated that a batch of American equipment had appeared on the black market in Kunming.

So he suspected that Cun Yunsheng wanted to use this attack on Lashio as an excuse to ask for more artillery.

After all, he doesn't have that many artillerymen, how can he operate?

The end of the telegram stated that he had borrowed two battalions of artillery.

Enough to operate these guns.

Cun Yunsheng even assured him that as long as the artillery was in place, he would be confident that he could capture Lashio within five days.

Borrowed two battalions of artillery?
This guy is really capable.

As for why he chose to believe it, it was because this guy asked him to use a transport plane to transport these artillery pieces from Myitkyina to Hsipaw.

If he didn't have two artillery battalions, he wouldn't be able to use transport planes for air transport.

Thinking of this, Stilwell kept tapping his fingers and pondered for a while, but finally couldn't help but accept the honor of capturing Lashio.

"Two hundred heavy artillery pieces, this guy is really greedy." Stilwell felt a little painful, but after thinking about it, he finally sent a telegram stating that these heavy artillery pieces were only loaned to him.

After Lashio is captured, it will be returned to the Allied Command.

Cun Yunsheng, who received the telegram, couldn't help but curse.

"Stilwell is getting more and more stingy. He is so stingy with just 200 heavy artillery pieces."

　Twenty minutes early, hahaha! Hahaha! Am I the most diligent and trustworthy writer in the military zone? Update first and revise later!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)